In Episode #114 of Geeks of the Valley, we sat down with Jay Zhao, Managing Partner at Leonis Capital, a research-driven VC fund backing technical founders building extraordinary products. We explore how research-driven theses are reshaping AI-first venture strategies, the rise of agentic software, and the compute-and-energy challenges behind today’s largest models. Unpacking the displacement factor framework for spotting breakthrough AI startups months before mainstream adoption. Explore navigating the new ai venture landscape from an investor’s lens.
Since joining Leonis, Jay has led or served on the board of marquee companies including Marqeta (NASDAQ: MQ), HireVue (NASDAQ: CG), Mixamo (Acquired by Adobe), Sense (NYSE: CLDR), Robust Wealth (NASDAQ: PFG), Lowkey.gg (Acquired by Niantic), WorkBoard, Lime, MaintainX, and Sleeper. He’s also supported investments in Innoviz (NASDAQ: INVZ), Delhivery (IPO), Transwarp, and many other high-growth ventures. An active contributor to the industry dialogue, Jay’s long-form research essays have been featured in The Wall Street Journal, CNBC and Venture Capital Journal. He shares his expertise as a guest lecturer at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, Tulane and Wharton, and mentors at Girls Who Code and Habitat for Humanity. He writes the Next Trillion newsletter and hosts a technical-deep-dive Substack on AI’s future.
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayzhaolinkedin/
- Newsletter: https://nexttrillion.substack.com/
- Website: https://www.leoniscap.com/
